In an announcement that was keenly watched in Washington, on Wall Street and around the world Friday, the U.S. government said its economy added 290,000 jobs in the month of April, although the unemployment rate edged up to 9.9 percent. The job creation was more robust than many market watchers had expected.

Now, the question on everyone’s mind will be: Is it enough?

In Washington, the Obama administration and congressional Democrats hope that the jobs gains are evidence that their economic policies are working — and that Americans begin to feel the uptick before the November midterm elections.

On Wall Street, investors are hoping that the number is enough to restore some measure of confidence to equities markets shaken by Thursday’s nearly 1,000-point stock market drop and nearly 700-point recovery.

In what is being called the “flash crash,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average saw a sudden and breathtaking decline of 998.50 points, which amounted to the largest intraday drop in the history of the storied exchange, followed by an almost as sudden rally on the upside. By the time the dust settled, the index had lost 347.80.

And around the world, governments and markets are looking to the jobs figure to see if the economic recovery taking hold in the United States can block the global contagion of fears stemming from the Greek debt crisis.

Asian stock markets dropped significantly overnight, and European indexes were off in early trading Friday as well. But futures for the American markets pointed to an early rebound, perhaps in anticipation of a strong jobs number from the United States.

European nations are grappling with a massive Greek deficit problem and readying a bailout that may come too late to prevent Greece from slipping into default. All week, protestors in Athens have rioted in objection to strict austerity measures passed by the Greek parliament to rein in that country’s budget.

At stake in the Hellenic financial mess is the fate of the single European currency, the Euro, and the Eurozone economic union, as relatively wealthier countries balk at bailing out their profligate southern neighbors.

The issue also presents a test of leadership for President Barack Obama, who has been pressuring the Europeans to move quickly with the bailout. That pressure is likely to continue Friday, as the G-7 finance ministers ready for a conference call on the crisis.

"The United States took dramatic action back in '07 and '08," said an American government official yesterday. “In Europe, they've been a little slow to act with overwhelming force. They never had the kind of stimulus we did. They've been trying to slow walk this thing, and that's not really working."

President Obama is scheduled to appear before television cameras later Friday morning to make a statement on the jobs number. In a signal of the importance of the moment, he will be joined by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Director of the Office of Management and Budget Peter Orszag, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers Christina Romer and Director of the National Economic Council Larry Summers.

Ahead of the release of the unemployment report, market observers expected the economy to add between 150,000 and 180,000 jobs, and for the unemployment rate to stay at 9.7 percent or even rise to 9.8 percent.

That means today’s number beats market expectations, although the uptick in the unemployment rate will be cause for investor concern.

At the same time, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also reported that there were 15.3 million unemployed people in the country in April.

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